TUF 10: Episode 6 Recap and Analysis

So, last night was a big win for Darrill “Titties” Schoonover (10-0 MMA), who submitted Zak Jensen (7-3 MMA) with a triangle choke after laying a pretty solid beating down standing up.

Really, though, it was a moral victory, who had taken a lot of Rampage’s smack talk seriously. Whether this will be the end of it is debatable (I don’t think it will, and neither does Darrill, from the sound-bites offered last night) but simply being in the second round, along with five of his teammates, gives Darrill something to shove in Rampage’s face.

One of the things that’s been a topic of debate (and for good reason) is the difference in coaching styles between Rampage and Rashad. I ran into some guys today who made an excellent point: telling a guy in the locker room that his opponent sucks and that he shouldn’t lose to a guy with titties isn’t really helpful in terms of getting in the right place mentally.

Rampage isn’t a coach, as he’s the first to point out, but he should understand that what matters in terms of mentality is the focus on the importance of winning. Part of the psychological preparation for a fight has to include an understanding that the fight isn’t going to be easy. For Rampage to instill the notion that it was going to be an easy fight was stupid, from a coaching standpoint, especially knowing how weak the fighter was.

In defense of Jensen, he didn’t look terrible. He scored a good takedown, even if it was on a desperation shot, and I expected him to get absolutely crushed by a guy I still think is one of the most underrated fighters in the house.

From a technical standpoint, I do think it’s appropriate to offer a little insight into the submission that Schoonover pulled off, because I think it’s worth mentioning that if you ask any BJJ practitioner to demonstrate a triangle, it won’t look like the one Darrill sunk in. He landed the triangle at a very weird angle, but managed to keep tightening it up every time his opponent lost traction, managed to turn the hip so that his body was perpendicular to Jensen’s (which is a really important detail a lot of fighters forget about) and choke Jensen out (and it was clear that Jensen was going out, once Schoonover locked it up for the last time).

As far as where this puts us in the course of the show, it’s clear that Rampage, at 0-6 is in trouble. I’ll say this, though, I don’t think Rampage is going to get shut out, and I don’t think Rashad expects a shutout either.

Scott Junk is a dangerous fighter and he’s got a good shot at beating whoever he fights out of the remaining two heavyweights. While he’s a good deal smaller than Mitrione, and probably marginally smaller than Wessel, he may be in good shape given his experience and status as a UFC veteran.

Of course, Wessel is pretty experienced in the cage and has a UFC fight to his credit, too. Though both lost, it’s arguable that Wessel’s loss was to a better fighter (7X UFC veteran and K-1 competitor Antoni Hardonk) and he had a better showing. Still, Wessel was the last pick for Team Rashad, but it’s not as though Junk was a first pick (he went fifth overall), or that the order of the picks is even really relevant.

It seems like Matt Mitrione may be the most vulnerable fighter on Team Rashad, as he’s the only fighter left who hasn’t made a professional MMA debut yet. Mitrione is a big, strong heavyweight, but he’s not necessarily going to be a favorite by any stretch of the imagination. While there was speculation he might fight Marcus Jones, and that’s still a possible matchup, I think that he’s in trouble either way. Junk has much more experience than Mitrione and Jones is much bigger and much stronger (not to mention he also holds a marginal experience edge).

Overall, there’s a possibility Rampage could go 2-6, given that his weakest link is out of the way and two of Rashad’s are still left, but anything can happen and, while Rampage’s fighters should be the favorite going into their bouts, the painfully poor level of coaching really hasn’t been assessed yet, and that may have an impact too.